Did you know that 100% of Grim Misadventures happen on a Monday? Food for thought. Last time, we had our latest batch of pointy and deadly itemage coming in Fangs of Asterkarn. Today, we are going to embrace our wild side. We might have been giving some hints…
Note: as always, everything you are seeing today is in active development and subject to change. Nothing is set in stone until it is!
It is no secret that the 10th mastery coming to Grim Dawn is the transformative Berserker. Berserkers are the brutal unflinching defenders of Asterkarn that have embraced the beast god Mogdrogen’s gifts to shapeshift into ferocious beastlike forms. They harness the bitter unforgiving winds of Asterkarn to infuse their weapons and shatter their foes. When they are not assuming their wereforms, Berserkers bring down their prey in savage dual weapon combat, but any weapon can prove deadly in their capable hands, or talons.
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To the Kurn, berserkers are valiant warriors who sacrificed a portion of their humanity to become steadfast protectors of their people. To outsiders, they are savages, little more than the beasts they embody. The Kurn’s long and bloody history lends credence to both arguments. This duality was never more apparent than during the calamitous events of the war between Erulan and the Kurn that culminated in the summoning of the Loghorrean and the devastation of the surrounding lands. The vast Necropolis is a testament to the lives lost and the sacrifices made. With the Erulan empire ultimately the victor, the Kurn were forced to retreat deeper into their homeland of Asterkarn, but the sins of that war haunt them to this day.
The whispers of Ch’thon had long captured the ears of a select few Kurn tribes, but their allure has never been stronger, with some Kurn devoting themselves fully to the void. These Bloodbound now work to spread the corruption that festers within Asterkarn, leaving the wildlife and people with fewer and fewer safe havens to call home. Berserkers that have embraced the gifts of Ch’thon can likewise taint their weapons, and claws, with the vile powers of the void. Whether this is just a means to an end, or a soul lost to darkness, is up to you.
The Berserker mastery prominently features two shapeshift abilities: the Werewolf and Wereraven. Each of these forms embody a unique playstyle by automatically granting you 2 active abilities when you transform. With the werewolf, you will be a savage frontline fighter that rips through your enemies and tears them apart with double claw attacks.
Meanwhile, the wereraven unleashes cascades of jagged ice from a safe distance. These forms are temporary by default, allowing you to enter the transformations for a limited time before going on cooldown, but there are ways to extend their duration and even make them permanent with modifiers.
In line with Grim Dawn tradition, you can effectively combine the Berserker’s transformations and mix them with all the other masteries in the game to create your own unique playstyle. With a few exceptions, such as wereforms not using basic weapon attacks or weapon pool skills, you can create your own wild combinations (who does not want to see a Werewolf smashing their foes with lightning claws unleashing Primal Strikes?)
While shapeshifting plays a major role in a Berserker’s arsenal, there are many other ways you will be able to engage with the mastery. Berserkers are experts in dual wield combat and thrive in the thick of battle, where their critical strikes and natural tenacity keep the momentum in their favor.
Let us investigate some of the new skills and mechanics coming with the Berserker mastery:
Onslaught
“Kurn berserkers would lull their enemies into a false sense of confidence by engaging in a series of feints before unleashing a devastating blow.”
Onslaught is a new type of basic attack replacer (AA) that generates stacks of a new buff appropriately named Onslaught. These stacks are spent the next time you used a cooldown ability, increasing the damage of the attack substantially. This allows you to weave basic attacks and cooldown skills together effectively, like a make-your-own combo system, except you get to decide what the spender is. Onslaught stacks are only spent when casting a damaging ability, so you do not have to worry about accidentally consuming them on a buff.
By default, Onslaught deals Cold and Bleed damage, but it can be converted to Chaos with a transmuter.
Winds of Asterkarn
“The chill in the Asterkarn peaks is legendary. Some have come to call the wind the reaper’s caress, but to the Kurn it is Amatok’s Breath. Their mystics have learned to channel its fury. For as long as the spell is maintained, the bitter winds of Asterkarn will assail your foes and tear flesh from bone.”
Winds of Asterkarn is a new channeled ability that pulsates damage in a radius around you. Unlike the Oathkeeper’s Eye of Reckoning, you must remain stationary while casting Winds of Asterkarn, but the radius rapidly increases the longer you channel it, eventually becoming a massive deadly tempest.
For its modifier, Hailstorm, Winds of Asterkarn will also cause ice shards to rain from the sky within its area. If you were looking for a caster archetype in the Berserker, this will be for you. And you can of course combine it with the Wereraven form for even more icy carnage!
Rallying Cry
“Your battle cry reinvigorates you and your allies and rallies them back into the fray.”
The Berserker can inspire their allies in combat with a hearty battle cry. Rallying Cry will be one of the few rare sources of +% Max Movement Speed in the game.
And more…
Leap into the fray with earthshattering force. Invoke the spirit of Amatok to send an avalanche of ice with your attacks. Unleash a bone chilling battle cry that leaves your enemies exposed. Become an unshakeable, unstoppable machine of destruction in battle as a Berserker!
Class combination names you can look forward to: Dreadnaught, Evoker, Mystic, Primalist, Reaver, Runekeeper, Thane, Veilwalker, and Zealot.
We went all out to make the new Berserker mastery unlike anything you have played before in Grim Dawn. With a staggering 45 mastery combinations in the game, we think everyone will find something that appeals to them!
Like knowing what is coming up next for Grim Dawn? Check back on 10/28/2024 for the next Grim Misadventure!
Preferrably drawn by hand in Paint or Corel Draw, if you wanna go old-school.
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